Holy Cross Rd PO Box 9
Franklin, NH 03235
Phone:603-934-2020
Fax:603-934-9815
Why is a farm part of the program? How is it part of the program?
On an oxbow arm of the Merrimack River, between the county jail and downtown Franklin, lies a floodplain that was farmed by Daniel Webster's family.
Residents days will be spent together. Residents will grow, harvest and cook food onsite as part of the program. The process fosters a link to the earth, with spiritual benefits.
The program also shows residents how to enjoy preparing, cooking and eating what they grow. And how to eat well to promote health and recovery. The brain is an organ that relies on nutrients as much as any other part of the body needs them in order to recover.
The benefits of eating and buying local**:
Locally grown and produced food is fresher (if asked, consumers know and agree with this)
You know where your food comes from and who grows it
By buying locally you help support local farmers and keep working farms profitable
You help preserve working farms and our rural landscape (productive farms preserve our high quality of life in NH)
Your money stays in and supports your local community
**Thanks to the Claremont Farmers' Market
(March 2008 seeds are sprouting in preparation for spring planing.)
Here are some quotes from the man whose family worked this very same land. We call these Daniel Webster Insights ( we like to call them "DWI's" )
“Let us never forget that the cultivation of the earth is the most important labor of man. …………… When tillage begins, other arts follow. The farmers, therefore, are the founders of civilization.”
“Employment gives health, sobriety, and morals.”
Although Webster Place Recovery Center is not affilliated in any way with Monty Don, we do have some similar philosophies and a respect for the good work he has done with addicts in the U.K. Here are some quotes we like from Monty:
“Working with the soil and the seasons,..growing crops from tilling the soil to harvest and then shared with friendly people…..is one of the sanest, healthiest, 
and most healing activities that one can undertake.”
“…nature can heal our social problems as well as our physical and mental ones.”
"… a society without respect for the natural world, the food it produces or the detail and ritual of the landscape is horribly impoverished.”
“..when it comes to grounding, the earth is as a good a place as any to start.”
“Many years ago I had a dream in which I sunk my fingers into the warm soil where they took root and grew deep into the rich earth. I awoke with a profound sense of strength and happiness and the sense of being rooted in the earth has remained with me ever since.”
Monty Don - Growing Out of Trouble & The Monty Project